2 - Sunset Lies

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I wake up to sunlight pressing against my eyelids, warm and gold, the kind of morning light that should have meant something good

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I wake up to sunlight pressing against my eyelids, warm and gold, the kind of morning light that should have meant something good.

I turn, looking toward John B — or where he was supposed to be.

But it was empty, the sheets cool where he should have been, and my stomach dropped straight through the mattress.

My heart drops.

"What a liar" I mutter, jumping up, my pulse already climbing.

He promised. He promised he wouldn't go after the gold.

---

The hotel feels like sea air and perfume as I hurry out, my bare feet slapping fast against the tile, my chest tight with a fear I couldn't quite name yet. I'm barely past the courtyard when a car screeches to a stop in front of me. Instinct kicks in — I turn to walk away fast, my whole body flooding with adrenaline.

A hand clamps over my mouth, and terror seizes every muscle in my body at once.

I twist, panic flaring — then I see his face.

Stubbs.
Terrance's guy.

He drags me to the car. No words. No choice, my heart hammering so hard I could feel it in my throat the entire ride.

By the time we reached the house, I'm shoved inside like cargo, my knees hitting the floor hard enough to sting.

Stubbs waits with me until Cleo pushes through the back door.

"Boss — he's here. Hey, found your boyfriend." She says, and something in me went cold and furious at the word boyfriend, like it was some kind of joke.

John B steps in, breathless, hair soaked with sweat.
He steps toward me.

"Hey. Listen. I just—" he started

"Liar." I shove him away, the betrayal hot and sharp in my chest, worse somehow than the fear that had gotten me here.

His face falls, and for half a second I almost softened, almost reached back for him, before I remembered exactly why I shouldn't.

In his mind, he probably thought bringing back the gold would fix everything. But all I saw was him breaking a promise that mattered.

Stubbs catches him by the neck, jerking him backward, and my whole body lurched forward instinctively before I stopped myself.

"I wouldn't provoke him. It tends not to go so well. You can run but you can't hide John B. I got eyes and ears everywhere." Terrance says

He nods to Cleo.
"Took you long enough." He said

"Next time get him yourself" Cleo snaps

"After all our hospitality you left without saying goodbye" Terrance said.

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